Mu Zhe leaned against Shen Gurong's chest, despising himself.
'Just for a moment,' Mu Zhe thought, his nostrils filled with Shen Gurong's scent. 'I'll get up in ten breaths.'
The two had reached the foot of Liren Peak. Shen Gurong half-carried the limp Mu Zhe to a seat on the stone steps. Seeing the cold sweat on Mu Zhe's forehead, he casually wiped it away.
As he silently counted "eight breaths, nine breaths," Shen Gurong's soft fingertips gently brushed his forehead. He stiffened, keeping his eyes closed, and continued counting: 'Nine breaths... nine breaths...'
Less than ten breaths.
Seeing his pale face, Shen Gurong took his wrist and channeled a gentle stream of spiritual energy into Mu Zhe's meridians.
Mu Zhe's hand trembled violently.
For the past ten years, even Xi Guxing hadn't successfully probed his spiritual meridians with his spiritual energy. This was because his inner core seemed extremely averse to the spiritual energy of others; even the slightest approach would cause it to uncontrollably erupt with a burst of energy, enough to sweep a person away.
The instant Shen Gurong probed with his spiritual energy, Mu Zhe nearly suffered a cardiac arrest. He was about to get up to stop Shen Gurong when he felt Shen Gurong's spiritual energy, flowing like a gentle stream, smoothly enter his spiritual meridians without any resistance.
Mu Zhe was startled, then relaxed his tense body and slumped back into Shen Gurong's arms.
Confirming he hadn't unintentionally hurt Shen Gurong, Mu Zhe continued to nestle in his arms, counting "nine breaths."
After a moment, Shen Gurong, having finished his probe, withdrew his hand and said, "You must have exhausted your spiritual energy. Rest here for a while."
Mu Zhe nodded.
Afraid he would fall, Shen Gurong continued to hold him, casually asking, "Have you decided on a name for this sword?"
Mu Zhe was still mentally chanting "Nine breaths, nine breaths," when he heard this, he blurted out, "Jiu Xi."
Shen Gurong hummed in response, "Flow?"
Mu Zhe: "..."
Mu Zhe belatedly realized his mistake, his ears suddenly turning red. He coughed lightly and whispered, "The 'Xi' of 'stopping.'"
Shen Gurong pondered for a moment, then said, "A good name."
Mu Zhe was speechless.
After resting for a while, Xi Guxing urged him from the jade pendant at Shen Gurong's waist, as if something urgent had happened.
Shen Gurong replied hastily, "Coming right away."
Seeing this, Mu Zhe hurriedly propped himself up, struggling to stand, but Shen Gurong slapped him, saying, "If you can't stand, don't force yourself."
Mu Zhe: "..."
No, I actually... can stand up.
Shen Gurong, noticing his disciple couldn't stand, said considerately, "Master will carry you."
Mu Zhe: "..."
A moment later, Mu Zhe was on Shen Gurong's back, eyes tightly closed, his face flushed as he mentally berated himself.
The fiendish sword—Jiu Xi—had already been silenced by Mu Zhe. Finding the scene before him extremely strange, he couldn't resist and brazenly entered Mu Zhe's consciousness, speaking to him.
"You little brat, your master really isn't dead, and he's quite handsome too."
Mu Zhe instantly snapped out of his embarrassment and indignation. He transformed into human form in his sea of consciousness, glancing at his natal sword, Jiu Xi, with whom he now had a subtle connection. He coldly said, "If you say such things again, be careful, I won't show you any mercy."
Jiu Xi remained a wisp of black mist, drifting about, and said rather smugly, "I am now your master; you cannot harm me."
Mu Zhe: "?"
Mu Zhe's illusory consciousness conjured up a series of questions: "What did you say?"
Jiu Xi said, "I am your master."
Mu Zhe then confirmed he hadn't misheard. He chuckled but remained silent.
Jiu Xi, still acting as if it were his master, assumed he was dissatisfied and continued, "The swords beside me all said the same thing to me. I signed a contract with you; from now on, I am your master. You must treat me like a god, like your father."
Mu Zhe ignored him.
Jiu Xi transformed into a young boy, this time resembling himself—exquisitely handsome and full of youthful vigor. He stood with his hands on his hips, pointed at Mu Zhe, and said, "Kneel down and call me Father."
Mu Zhe glanced down at him, coldly saying, "You'd better take a closer look at that contract."
Jiu Xi looked at him suspiciously, then turned and opened the contract, revealing a complex set of intricate contract symbols.
Mu Zhe observed coldly.
Jiu Xi studied the situation for a long time before finally saying blankly, "Huh? So you're my master?"
Mu Zhe said, "What did you think?"
Jiu Xi: "..."
Jiu Xi stared blankly for a while, then suddenly burst into tears. He sat there, flailing his limbs, crying and shouting, "I don't want to! I don't want to form a pact with a human! You tricked this sword!"
Mu Zhe looked down at him coldly and said, "Are all swords this unprincipled? Since you've already acknowledged me as your master... do you think you can break the contract by resorting to such underhanded tactics?"
Jiu Xi choked, startled by his cold expression, and whispered, "I didn't mean to cheat..."
Mu Zhe said, "Then what do you want?"
Jiu Xi was stunned for a moment. He was thick-skinned, and quickly came to his senses. He wiped away his tears, got up, snorted, and said, "You're the first human who isn't controlled by my inner demons. Fine, I'll submit to your commands then."
Mu Zhe gave him a cold glance, not giving him a friendly look.
"Fine, fine," Jiu Xi muttered softly, "I won't tell you your master is dead anymore, don't be angry."
Mu Zhe's expression softened slightly.
After easily finishing his nine breaths, Mu Zhe felt as if he had forgotten something. After separating from his consciousness, he looked around at the desolate wilderness and thought indifferently, "Oh, so that's what I forgot."
Mu Zhe was sitting on the moss behind a boulder, with Shen Gurong sitting beside him, watching him cautiously.
Seeing Mu Zhe awake, the extremely guilty Shen Gurong immediately suppressed all his emotions, reverting to his usual indifferent expression, indicating, 'Everything is under my control, Master.'
'He's awake! Finally awake! If he hadn't woken up, I probably would have gotten lost all the way to Youzhou.'
Mu Zhe: "..."
Mu Zhe rubbed his temples. He had been so absorbed in his consciousness that he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. He didn't know where Shen Gurong got his powers of getting lost on a winding stone staircase into a strange, desolate place.
Shen Gurong coughed and said, "I just wanted to take a detour to see the scenery."
Mu Zhe: "..."
Well, you've gone quite a distance.
Perhaps even he felt his reason was too weak, Shen Gurong awkwardly lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Mu Zhe sighed inwardly and stood up, leaning on a stone for support.
Shen Gurong quickly said, "Don't force yourself."
Mu Zhe didn't force him: "My spiritual power has recovered somewhat; I can't trouble Master any further."
Seeing such an obedient disciple, Shen Gurong almost shed tears of fatherly affection.
'Such an obedient disciple, it's such a waste that he's with me.'
Mu Zhe: "..."
Mu Zhe had long since learned to remain completely calm when Shen Gurong acted unpredictably. His expression remained unchanged as he led Shen Gurong out of the desolate wilderness filled with scattered rocks and trees.
Mu Zhe had a good sense of direction. After stopping and looking around, he chose a direction and said, "The mountain steps should be over there."
Shen Gurong nodded, praising him wildly: "You're so good at finding your way around! Master has nothing more to teach you."
Mu Zhe stepped on a round stone and nearly fell off the steep mountain path.
He pursed his lips, his expression unreadable, offering no comment on the remark.
Both of them were already among the best in the Three Realms. If they simply used their divine sense to find their way or leaped through the air, they could return to Liren Peak almost instantly. But Mu Zhe simply didn't want to.
Mu Zhe always felt that his master was an extremely unconventional person; the most cheerful and outgoing people attracted his attention. Mu Zhe couldn't be like Yu Xinghe, who acted foolishly and obsequiously to gain attention, so he could only watch helplessly as his master chatted and laughed with others.
But today, when the two were alone, his master's heart and eyes were entirely focused on him—except for the group of children who had snatched the candy figurine from him.
Mu Zhe wanted to spend more time with Shen Gurong, ideally getting lost all the way to Youzhou, so that his master, who had no sense of direction, could stay with him constantly, never leaving his side.
The reason Shen Gurong didn't use his spiritual sense to find his way was simply because he had forgotten.
Another reason was that even if he found the way, he might not follow the correct path, so he simply didn't bother.
Mu Zhe absentmindedly led the way, unsure if he was unconsciously acting on his thoughts, because instead of leading to the correct path, he mistakenly wandered into a graveyard.
The sky before them was dim, graves stood scattered, and creatures, whether crows or vultures, trod on countless broken swords, their eyes darting about as if alive, their sinister gazes fixed on the two who had stumbled upon them.
Shen Gurong feigned composure, subtly moving closer to Mu Zhe, and whispered, "Mu Zhe, this... doesn't seem to be the path to Liren Peak."
Mu Zhe: "..."
Mu Zhe nodded, and together with Shen Gurong, turned to leave. But as soon as they turned, the path they had come from had transformed into a moss-covered mountain wall.
Shen Gurong was startled by the surrounding scene. Suddenly blocked, he didn't even react, immediately reaching out to touch the sticky moss, unleashing a terrifying burst of spiritual power that blasted a huge hole in the mountain wall.
Embedded within the hole were skeletons, several bones shattered and scattered before Shen Gurong.
Shen Gurong: "..."
Shen Gurong gasped, instinctively taking a step back and falling directly into Mu Zhe's arms.
Mu Zhe helped him up, comforting him, "It's just a dead person."
Shen Gurong: "..."
Traitor!
Shen Gurong was terrified of the dead. Hearing Mu Zhe's unusual words of comfort, he was so frightened he almost cursed aloud.
He tried to remain calm, looked around, and asked, "Is this some kind of formation?"
Mu Zhe remained calm: "A ghost wall, I guess."
Shen Gurong: "..."
Shen Gurong's heart was pounding wildly.
While cursing Mu Zhe in his heart, he trembled and expressionlessly tugged at Mu Zhe's sleeve.
Seeing that Shen Gurong's face had turned pale, Mu Zhe stopped trying to frighten him. He gently raised his hand and took Shen Gurong's hand in his own, saying softly, "If Master is afraid, you can hold Mu Zhe's hand."
Shen Gurong remained expressionless, his face cold as he tried to pull his hand away. "I'm not afraid."
Mu Zhe didn't expose him, and continued softly, "I am afraid. Can Master hold me tighter?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Gurong gave a look that said, 'Tsk, kids are such a hassle, still afraid of ghosts at this age,' and tightened his grip on Mu Zhe's hand.
Mu Zhe almost chuckled softly.
A mournful sound of wind whistling through the cave filled the air, as if someone was weeping, sending chills down everyone's spine.
Mu Zhe remained calm throughout, leading Shen Gurong around the surrounding graves several times before saying, "This formation should be a demonic cultivator's 'ghost wall,' easy to break; just find the formation's core."
Shen Gurong breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing it was merely a formation, raising an eyebrow slightly: "You've also learned formations?"
Mu Zhe nodded: "I learned some basics from Martial Aunt Su."
Shen Gurong became interested: "What else have you learned?"
Mu Zhe thought for a moment, then said: "These past years, I've learned swordsmanship from the Master; and followed Master Su..." "I learned some esoteric arts from Martial Uncle Lou; I also learned some poisons from him. I tried to learn some medicine on my own, but Martial Uncle Lou always made me test the medicines myself, so I gave it up."
He spoke, seemingly a little embarrassed, saying, "My skills are not good enough; I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Master."
Shen Gurong: "..."
This scene, for some reason, suddenly reminded Shen Gurong of the short, stocky boy in the private school who always got first place in every quiz. The teacher would always praise him in class, making Shen Gurong green with envy every time.
Someone once asked the short, stocky boy, "Why do you get such good grades? Did you study hard behind the scenes?"
The short, stocky boy, with the same shy expression, said, "Actually, no, I didn't study at all. I just took the test casually."
Everyone: "..."
That very day, Shen Gurong, along with a group of cronies, cornered the short, stocky boy in an alley and stole the book filled with ink-stained notes from his cloth bag.
The little dwarf complained to the teacher, who punished Shen Gurong by making him recite the Disciple's Rules a hundred times.
In the end, Shen Gurong copied the book until his eyes turned green.
Shen Gurong glanced at Mu Zhe, thinking: If this were me, I'd corner you in an alley, put a sack over your head, and beat you.
Mu Zhe: "..."
Mu Zhe coughed, not daring to show off anymore. He quickly found the array's core and said to Shen Gurong, "Master, it's..."
Shen Gurong felt it necessary to restore his master's authority. Before he could finish speaking, Shen Weifeng, his face ashen, unleashed an undisguised burst of spiritual power. With a deafening crash, the spot where Mu Zhe pointed was smashed into a hole several feet deep.
Mu Zhe: "..."
The surrounding walls, like an illusion, slowly dissipated into white mist, revealing the path they had come from behind.
Mu Zhe slowly withdrew his finger.
This time it was Shen Gurong's turn to show off. He raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "This formation is quite easy to break."
Mu Zhe remained silent, obediently leading Shen Gurong back the way they had come.
Just as they left the chaotic graveyard, Shen Gurong suddenly heard a languid voice beside him, as if someone were speaking close to his ear.
"Shen...Feng Xue," the voice said, "Thirty years have passed, and you've finally deigned to come see me."
Shen Gurong froze.
The voice seemed to come from the underworld; just hearing it sent a chill down his spine. It sounded like a sigh, yet also like joy.
Noticing Shen Gurong suddenly stop, Mu Zhe turned back in confusion: "Master?"
Shen Gurong took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, and said, "Mu Zhe, did you hear anything?"
Mu Zhe paused, looking around: "No."
Shen Gurong couldn't dismiss it as an illusion, because the voice seemed like a thread, constantly drilling into his ear.
"If I ever leave this burial mound, the first thing I will do is use your blood to sacrifice to my Demon Clan's Black Cloud Banner."
Shen Gurong trembled, his fingers clenching tightly, and Lin Xia Chun was instantly summoned, held in his palm.
He remembered.
Wen Liubing had told him that thirty years ago, Shen Feng Xue had subdued a demonic cultivator and sealed him in the Burial Mound on Liren Peak using Lin Xia Chun.
If he wasn't mistaken, this was the outer perimeter of the Burial Mound, and the speaker was that sealed demonic cultivator.
This demonic cultivator had been imprisoned in the Burial Mound for thirty years. Given his heinous crimes, he would typically have been executed, his soul scattered to the winds. However, because the people of the Three Realms were unsure whether the divine artifact was on Shen Feng Xue, and Shen Feng Xue denied it, they dared not kill the demonic cultivator directly.
If the demonic cultivator truly only wanted to drag the innocent Shen Feng Xue down with him, killing him would ensure that no one in the world would know the artifact's whereabouts.
Therefore, everyone could only force Shen Feng Xue to confess the artifact's location while forcibly imprisoning the demonic cultivator in the Burial Mound, subjecting him to daily torment, hoping that one day he would truthfully hand over the artifact.
In an instant, an uncontrollable surge of intense killing intent welled up within Shen Gurong, causing excruciating pain in his internal organs—it was the boundless hatred of Shen Feng Xue's remaining divine consciousness towards this demonic cultivator.
Shen Feng Xue probably wanted to kill the demonic cultivator, but if he did, some people would interpret it as using a divine artifact to silence a witness, making it impossible to clear his name.
There was no way around it; no matter how much he hated him, Shen Feng Xue couldn't kill him.
Shen Gurong gripped Lin Xia Chun and coldly glanced back.
The demonic cultivator was nowhere to be seen; only his voice still lingered in his ears. It seemed the demonic cultivator was now powerless to escape the heavily guarded Burial Mound, resorting to such a low-level intimidation to vent his anger.
That voice, which seemed to be filled with blood and hatred, suddenly softened, becoming tender and affectionate, like a shy whisper to a beloved.
“No, killing you would be pointless,” the man said softly. “With your handsome appearance, countless demons covet you, wanting to use you as a furnace. If I could…”
Before he could finish, Shen Gurong suddenly sneered, violently tossing Lin Xia Chun aside. Lin Xia Chun transformed into scattered fragments of light, which then swiftly coalesced into a magnificent, illusory longbow.
“Dreaming too much isn’t a good thing,” he said calmly. “Right now, I’m the butcher and you’re the fish on the chopping block. If you don’t want unnecessary suffering, I advise you to behave yourself.”
His slender fingers lightly hooked a bowstring, then abruptly released it. A surge of spiritual energy, mixed with Lin Xia Chun’s sword intent, shot out into the void and vanished in an instant.
Lin Xia Chun’s spiritual energy was repelled back into his physical form by Shen Gurong—the sword now embedded in the demon cultivator’s chest. This attack would inflict excruciating pain, rendering the demon cultivator unable to utter another reckless word.
Shen Gurong tilted his head slightly, smiling, and said, "Come find me again when you're out."
The tender, affectionate voice in the void was instantly replaced by a muffled snort. The demonic cultivator gritted his teeth and said, "Shen Feng Xue, you're truly ruthless."
Shen Gurong had completely taken control of Shen Feng Xue's heaven-defying cultivation and no longer held back. He was already sworn enemies with this demonic cultivator, and they would likely meet again in the future. Shen Gurong was also the type who never backed down in a verbal exchange, so he immediately retorted.
"If I'm not ruthless enough, you'll use me as a furnace. Then I'll be ruthless."
With that, he waved his wide sleeve, and the two companions, like immortals, drifted away.
The demonic cultivator roared, "Shen Feng Xue! You will fall into my hands one day!"
Shen Gurong didn't turn his head, calmly replying, "I'll be waiting."
Mu Zhe had no idea who Shen Gurong was talking to. He was stunned for a long time before asking in confusion, "Is someone speaking to Master?"
Shen Gurong nodded casually, "Yes."
Mu Zhe's eyes darkened. Recalling Shen Gurong's words, "If you're not ruthless enough, you'll use me as a furnace," he took a deep breath, trying to remain calm: "Who dares to offend Master like this?"
Shen Gurong casually replied, "Just a clown. He'll amount to nothing. Don't worry about him."
Mu Zhe was still unhappy.
By the time the two finally found the right path and returned to Liren Peak, it was already dark.
Xi Guxing had grown impatient and was currently fighting with Chao Jiuxiao at Lotus Lake.
Upon seeing Shen Gurong return, Chao Jiuxiao froze, immediately transforming into a small dragon, its tail in its mouth, and leaped into Lotus Lake with a splash, disappearing from sight. Xi Guxing sheathed his short sword and strode over, asking, "Where are you going..."
Before he could finish, Shen Gurong, his face ashen, grabbed his arm and dragged him into Fanjiang Residence. "Come quickly, there's something I need to discuss with you—Mu Zhe should go back first."
Mu Zhe bowed and agreed.
Xi Guxing frowned as he was pulled into Fanjiang Residence.
Shen Gurong slammed the door shut and said solemnly, "Third Senior Brother, when do you have time, strengthen the barrier around the Burial Mound?"
Xi Guxing was taken aback. "What?"
"Strengthen it by two times," Shen Gurong said to himself. "Or three times? No, no, that's still not safe. How about ten times? Or have Senior Sister use all the trapping formations so he can die inside and never escape, how about that?"
Xi Guxing: "..."
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